Breaking The News
by Searching.For.Pieces.Of.Me
Summary: Josh and Donna deal with Leo's death. 1st in the On the Path to the Future series.
1. The Seaborns

Title: "Breaking the News (1/4)" PG  
Characters: Donna, Ainsley, Sam  
Category: Drama/Angst  
Rating: Teen  
Post Ep: "Election Day, part 2"  
Summary: Donna spreads the unfortunate news.  
Author's Note: This is the first story in the "On the Path to the Future" series.

**Breaking the News (1/4) "The Seaborns"**

Donna dialed the number she had become familiar with while separated from Josh. She called it often when she needed a friendly voice to talk to. The people on the other end of the line had been her sanity as she worked towards making Bob Russell the Democratic nominee for President. Since then, she had called them when she simply needed to vent about Josh. They had had been the first people told the story of "the kiss" to.

She knew the chances of getting through the call without tears was slim to none, so she decided to let the tears fall if they came again. She heard the phone ring a few times before hearing the southern drawl of a friend.

"Hello."

"Ainsley, it's Donna. Is Sam around?"

"Sure, would you like me to get him?" she asked.

"Actually, can you have him get on another extension? I've got some news for you." Donna heard Ainsley leave the phone briefly to get Sam, and have him pick up one of the other extensions. While waiting, Donna took a deep, though shuddering, breath.

"Hi Donna," he said.

"Hi Sam," Donna said. God, was it good to hear his voice again, she thought. "You both deserve to hear this from me, and not from the news when it breaks, and it will break soon." She took a deep, steadying breath, but before she could speak, a sob burst out. "Oh, God," she sobbed. "He's gone, Leo's gone."

Thankfully for Donna, neither Ainsley nor Sam needed to ask Donna what she meant by "gone."

"When?" Ainsley asked quietly.

"Just a few moments ago. Annabeth went to get him for some campaign stuff, and found him unconscious in his room, and not breathing."

"How's Josh?" Sam asked, knowing that his friend would not be taking the loss of a mentor well.

"When I told him Leo'd been taken to the hospital, he looked like I'd shattered his world. He recovered some on the way to the hospital, but that look returned when Annabeth told us that Leo was gone. Dammit, Sam. This is supposed to be Josh's night, and he's going to spend it feeling guilty. How do I make him understand that Leo wouldn't want him to feel guilty on tonight, of all nights?" She broke down crying, tears streaming down her face as she vented her frustrations and grief to her friends.

Sam sighed. "There's not much you can do, but make sure he calls his mother. She may be able to knock some sense into him. You can handle him, Donna. You've always been able to, even when you didn't realize it. He'll listen to you because he loves you." Sam was quiet for a minute, before coming to a realization. "You know, I don't think I was supposed to tell you that."

Donna gave a tiny laugh. "It's alright Sam. I knew about that already. It's been an emotional day, in both directions. Josh and I made some personal discoveries today, and got some things out in the open."

"Do you need us to come out right away Donna?" Ainsley asked. "Or should we wait until the funeral?"

"We'll be okay until the funeral, I think. Josh is going to need you Sam, especially if we win. He's going to feel truly lost if we win tonight, and knowing Josh as I do, he's going to want to surround himself with people he trusts to help him run the country. He can't rely on Leo, so he's going to come up with other options. He's going to ask you to come, Sam."

"I know he will. But I don't know what to tell him. I don't know what we'll tell him," he amended, thinking of his wife listening to the conversation.

The friends spoke for another few minutes before leaving to take care of pressing matters. As Sam and Ainsley hung up their phones, they turned to each other, glad they weren't alone in their grief.

**A/N:** The next part should be up soon. The entire story (it's short, just four parts) is complete, but I want to look over the rest a little bit.


	2. Mom

**Breaking the News (2/4) "Mom"**

Josh dug his phone out of his pocket and just stared at it for a long moment. He knew he had a phone call to make, but he was avoiding it.

"I can call her for you Josh," Donna offered, understanding his dilemma.

Josh shook his head. "No, I need to do it. She needs to hear it from me—from me and definitely not from the news." He left his place against the window and next to Donna to pace the hallway. He flipped open his phone and dialed the familiar number. "Hi Mom," he said.

"Hello Joshua," his mother, Rebekah, said. She stood in her kitchen, the kitchen that Josh had only been in a handful of times, and looked at the clock. "What's the matter Joshua? It's too early for you to be calling to gloat. The election hasn't been called yet."

"Mom, you need to," his voice broke. He took a deep breath and started again, willing the tears to hold. "Mom, you need to sit down."

"What happened?" she asked again. She did as he asked, though, and sat in a kitchen chair. She knew that her son's news couldn't be good, not with Josh's voice breaking. "Tell me Josh. Tell me what happened."

"Leo's gone, Mom." His voice broke again, but this time he couldn't stem the tears. "He died a few minutes ago."

Rebekah drew in a sharp breath, and she felt her throat close up. She'd known Leo for years. He and Noah had been friends for years, and with time, she'd come to know Leo as a friend as well. "How?" she asked.

"Another massive heart attack," Josh answered. "Not an hour ago, Annabeth went to find Leo for interviews and whatnot, and found him unconscious and not breathing." Tears swam in his eyes, and he blinked rapidly to clear his vision, without success. He took a deep, not so steady breath and spoke again. "I don't know what to do now."

"Listen to Donna. Think about what Leo would want tonight. You know he'd want you back at that hotel, trying to put Matt Santos into office." She changed tacks. "When will the funeral be? I want to be there."

Josh shook his head, before remembering he was talking to his mother on the phone, and that she couldn't see him. "I don't know. It's all happening so fast."

"Does Mallory know?" Rebekah asked. She was controlling her tears, knowing Josh needed a rock right now. She could cry after she finished comforting her son. She knew Donna would also be crying her own tears tonight. So for a few moments, the role of Josh's rock fell to her.

"She was here for the election. Annabeth called her as the ambulance left the hotel." Josh was quiet for several moments. "I'm not sure what I'll do if we win tonight. I don't know how I'll run the country without Leo."

"You'll manage. You always do. It wasn't your fault, Joshua. You didn't force Leo to join the ticket. In all your years growing up, do you ever remember you father making Leo do something he didn't want to do? The answer's no Josh. Leo never did anything he didn't want to do. Leo wanted to join the ticket. Take comfort in the fact that Leo was doing what he wanted to right up until the end," his mother advised. "Now go back to that hotel, and do what you need to do to make Leo's final wish come true. Go enjoy your night." She hung up, not giving Josh the chance to argue with her.

Josh looked at the phone, realizing that his mother had stopped any arguments he could make. He closed the flip phone and stopped his pacing to look at Donna. "What now? What do I do now, Donna?" he asked brokenly.

She gathered him in her arms. "We go back to the hotel, and finish putting Matthew Santos into office. It's what Leo would have wanted, so that's what we're going to do. And then after we win tonight, we'll celebrate Leo's life, because he'd hate all of us crying over him."

He nodded and wiped the tears from his face, and together with Annabeth, they left the hospital.


	3. Mallory

**Breaking the News (3/4) "Mallory"**

He had turned to her many times that day and night, as his emotions fluctuated. They had turned to each other that morning as they'd gotten their act together and realized the love between them. He'd turned to her after learning about Leo. He'd turned to her in Leo's room, after he'd called housekeeping to clean the room. And finally, when the media had called Nevada and the election for Congressman Matthew Santos, he'd turned to her.

He knew she'd been watching him as he stared at the map of the country on the white board, and then at the picture of Leo on the bulletin board. In the last few weeks, his "Donna Radar" had finally come back after being silent for so many months.

She left the doorway eventually, though he didn't know how long she watched him—time seemed to have no meaning to him tonight. He assumed she went downstairs to the ballroom, but he didn't know that for sure. He hoped she was down there, because he was finally going down. He finally decided to enjoy a little of the celebration, even if it did aggravate the new ache in his chest. He shut off the light as he left the room, and on his way to the elevator, he ran into Mallory. He wasn't surprised to note that she had been crying. Hell, he had been crying, and he made a point of never crying.

"Hi Josh," she said, coming up to him. "I'm hearing some stories I don't like, and I think you and I need to have a conversation about them." She pulled him into what she knew was an empty room—Donna's empty room. When Mallory had realized Josh was erringly blaming himself, she had asked Donna if she could borrow her room to knock some sense into Josh.

Josh didn't know of any way to bow out of the discussion without making her night worse, so he went along with her. "Okay."

As soon as the door was shut behind her, Mallory began to speak. "It's not your fault Josh. I don't blame you."

"How can you not blame me?" Josh cried. "I got him to join the ticket. He should have been at home, not out on a rigorous campaign schedule taxing his body."

"Give it up Josh. I've known you since we were kids, and you knew my dad that long as well. Even when we tag-teamed him, we never convinced him to do something he didn't already want to do. And really Josh, did you think he would sedately follow the campaign from Washington even if he hadn't joined the ticket?" She was quiet for a moment. "I'm actually very grateful for you. You gave him a remarkable gift. You gave him the gift of happiness up until the end. He got to do what he loved, instead of spending time wasting away. You gave him that happiness." She gave him a hug. "Let it go Josh."

Josh broke down crying again, this time in the arms of a childhood friend. "Okay," he said, after several minutes. "Okay, let's go down to the ballroom. It's time to celebrate. Leo would be pissed as hell at all of us crying like this. He'd be thrilled that we won, and it's time we celebrated like it."

Together they walked down to the ballroom, a united front against the grief of loss. "Oh, and Josh. In the coming days, after we've dealt with some of the shock, you're going to explain why I saw several items of your clothing scattered about Donna's floor."


	4. First and Last

**Breaking the News (4/4) "First and Last"**

It was after seven AM when he finally made it back to his room. He simply couldn't take any more. After several tries at the electronic door, he finally got in. He sat on the bed for a moment, an emotionally exhausted wreck. As he sat there, he realized that he really didn't want to be alone. He didn't want to deal with his grief alone. So, as a solution to his problem, he gathered his toothbrush and the pajamas CJ had bought him so many years before, and left his room to knock on Donna's door.

She heard the knock on her door and, if she were honest with herself, she had been expecting it. She opened the door, and left it open for him, tacitly inviting him in. She turned around to look at him, standing just inside the doorway. He looked unbelievably tired, and immeasurably sad, and together they broke her heart. Without a word, she enveloped him in a hug. Though he had cried before that day, and had broken down in Mallory's arms, this time he just sobbed on Donna's shoulder. He cried for all the things he had never said to his mentor, for all the things Leo would never do.

She rubbed a hand soothingly along his back, helping him the only way she knew how. Words had been said already, and wouldn't help him now. As his sobs began to cease, he pulled away from her. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

'What are you sorry for? So you broke down. I'd be more worried if you hadn't. It's been a long emotional day, and it's been even longer since you slept. The next few days won't be easy, but we'll get through them Josh. We all loved Leo, and we're all hurting right now, but we'll deal. We'll deal with the politics at hand, because Leo would kick our asses if we didn't. We can handle all of it Josh, because we'll handle it together."

Josh gave a small shake of his head. "I don't deserve you. But I love you anyway."

She smiled at him and took his hand to lead him to the bed. "Come, let's get some sleep. We can't handle all of this exhausted as we are.

He let himself be pulled to the bed, dropping his pajamas and toothbrush on the way. Together they sat on the edge of the bed, just thinking about the emotional ups and downs of the day. He pulled his hands from hers to rub them over his face. Then, he turned to look at her. "You were the first person I turned to today, throughout everything that's gone on. A few days from now, when we're both feeling steadier emotionally, I'd like to talk about making that permanent—you being the first and last person I see each day."

"When we talk about it a few days from now, Josh, the answer will be yes," Donna said, and with that simple statement, they scooted up the bed, got under the covers, and fell asleep, taking comfort in one another

**Author's Note:** The second story, Letters for the Future, should be up in the next few days. I meant to have this last part up yesterday, but I'm dealing with what's probably a nasty sinus infection.


End file.
